Presentation
Korean Title: 절대 그이
Aired in: 2019 (20 episodes)
Channel: SBS
Grade: 4/10
Actors: Min Ah and Yeo Jin Goo
For more…
Yeo Jin Goo:
– Hotel del Luna
– Orange Marmelade
– Potato Star 2013QR3
– The Crowned Clown
Bang Min Ah:
– Beautiful Gong Shim
– My Sweet Family
– A Better Tomorrow
Dramas about robots:
– 109 Strang Things
– Bong Soon: a Cyborg in love
– Borg Mom
– Are You Human Too?
Analysis
Synopsis
Young Goo is a robot. He is supposed to be deliver to a rich heiress but there is a mistake and he ends up at Eom Da Da’s. She activates him by chance and then has to take care of it. Unexpectedly, Da Da, who is having relationship problems, bonds with the robot and develops affection towards it.
My Opinion (Spoiler Alert)
A scandalous drama! Especially for that review, I am going to split my opinion in two parts: what I liked and what I disliked to help you understand my 4/10 – which is consider a bit high for such a drama!
Liked: First, the obvious positive point to that drama is the cast, Minah as Eom Da Da, the very good Yeo Jin Goo as Young Goo and Hong Jong Hyun playing the supporting lead Ma Wang Joon. Because of that specific cast, my expectations increased. I had previously seen Minah in an excellent under-rated drama called Beautiful Gong Shim and her performance was really good. Same for Yeo Jin Goo: his reputation precedes him since his early childhood, so I was not anxious about the overall acting performance (Yeo Jin Goo played afterwards in Hotel Del Luna!).
Second, Absolute Boyfriend is an adaptation of the Japanese drama Zettai Kareshi, which gained fame and recognition back in the days. I didn’t see the Japanese version but its reputation was one of the main arguments that pushed me into watching the Korean remake.
Third, the light-hearted romance and ambiance of the drama attracted my attention: I was looking for a fun and simple drama to watch, that wouldn’t need a lot of focus – unfortunately for me it happened to be quite the headache!
Fourth, some details were interesting: the job as make-up artist in movies, the fact that Wang Joon was playing a robot and faced with an actual one, the names (Young Goo meaning 09 and Nam Bo Won spelling “Number One”), the theme of artificial intelligence is quite attractive I must say, the overall romantic relationships (mostly the supporting ones). Despite all of those details, they were not sufficient for me to really like the drama.
Disliked: Despite these apparent positive points mentioned above, Absolute Boyfriend, clearly annoyed me as hell! Therefore, I really wouldn’t recommend it, unless you have time to waste or you’ve seen the Japanese version and wish to compare it with the Korean one!
First, what horrified me the most I think is the main romance: dating a robot is creepy guys! I believed at the very beginning of the drama that Da Da being with Young Goo would actually make her old boyfriend jealous and make him understand what he has lost by leaving her. I wasn’t necessarily wishing for her to go back with her ex, but simply expecting Wang Joon would come to realize how important Da Da was in his life. He would therefore apologize for leaving her after 10 years (of hiding her as his girlfriend) and for clearly disrespecting her feelings. That’s it! And if Da Da was crazy enough to forgive him, even though I wouldn’t have approved it as a viewer, go ahead, I don’t care at that point!
But my real problem was that the robot was absolutely not there to serve a mediator between the broken couple. On the contrary, it became a rival, a lover and a confident. A role I found totally crazy! I already had that problem, when I watched Are You Human Too?; but seriously a relationship with a robot is a clear no-go! Think about everything that comes after! What about the future? Growing old? Having kids? Even the simple fact of having sex with it is disturbing! All of these horrific ideas were stuck in the back of my head, as I watched the episodes. This kind of disgusted me in a way and I couldn’t root for the relationship, no matter how beautiful or dramatic it was!
I can understand of course the underlying message coming from this atypical bond: love is stronger than any difference, a message of acceptance and tolerance maybe, but this was pushed way too far. I really believe that love stories with actual robots in Dramaland should stop unless it is written the same as in I am not a Robot (because the robot is actually human!).
Second, the characters were impossible to empathize with. Ma Wang Joon was an indecisive and immature man, jealous of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. He was never sure what he really wanted and same for Da Da sometimes. Most episodes were very redundant with characters making a decision and then deciding to go with the very opposite choice. Really, the story could’ve been cut in half; no need for 36 episodes (18 episodes).
Diana (Hong Seo Young) was also such a horrible woman. I can understand the loneliness, the difficulty of having no friends, no confident, no one apart from your money. Still, this doesn’t give you the right to be cruel! Diana was exactly this kind of villain, bland and constant, that you want to get rid of and that you can’t stand. Even if she seems to have a change of heart by the end, realizing how bad she is, I am not sure it is a positive element; on the contrary it may also be a whim and she chooses to give up on the robot just because he doesn’t want to be with her.
You will clearly find some other frustrating and annoying characters, I let you be the judge of it if you watch the drama.
The only character I appreciated, even though annoying also, is Nam Bo Won (Choi Sung Won). He is empathetic and really care for Young Goo. He is very kind and doesn’t want to hurt anybody. Nevertheless, I think he is an idealist wishing for robots and human beings to live in perfect harmony and accept each other: a fantasy to be clear! Still, he was okay as a character.
In a nutshell, these two aspects constitute the heart of the drama: the plot and the characters. Because it was lacking a lot on that part, I couldn’t grade it higher than a 4 (sorry to all of those who liked the drama!).
P.S: 2019 was Yeo Jin Goo’s winning year with literally 3 dramas between January and August: The Crowned Clown, Absolute Boyfriend and Hotel Del Luna! What a year!
Once Upon a Drama 